Storytelling started with our great ancestors, who drew pictures in stone, clay, and wood. Their primary method for forming this was to create art and be able to share information about their life, cultural beliefs, traditions, history, and ways to survive with further generations. Later, it moved to oral stories their families could share and pass down. Next, novels took on a new world when they morphed into narratives encompassing written, typed, and printed reports. However, with technology, stories are not just elicited with live people or recordings but stuffed animals with artificial intelligence. Throughout this article, I will share how this new change is taking place and what dangers kids may now be exposed to.
Around the 1800s, technology allowed us to create photography, audiobooks, motion pictures, and podcasts. When the 21st century rolled in, online social media such as Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter became popular for people to express their thoughts in an electronic blog format online for many to see. Thus, you can easily see why we have the phrase “A picture is worth a thousand words, but the memories are priceless,” first said by Fred R. Barnard.
In the 1880s, George Eastman, a young hobbyist and school dropout, leased the third floor of a building on State Street in Rochester, where he began manufacturing dry plates for commercial photography. Kodak created the slogan “You Press the Button, We Do the Rest.” and was best known for the diverse selection of film products they brought to market. They also created The Kodak Box Camera in 1888, which came pre-loaded with a 100-exposure roll of film.
William Dickson brought us the idea of the first motion picture camera built by Thomas Edison. The camera called the Kinetograph, took a series of photos on 35 mm film. Soon after, in 1895, Louis and Auguste Lumiere invented the Cinematographe. The cinematograph was a device that took the printed film and projected it.
We can see that storytelling has evolved from our ancient cave ancestors to people reading books at storytime to formal movies being produced that people enjoy. If you wonder how much storytelling can change, sit back; you are about to find out. We already have mp3 players, computers, and media devices that can replay at any time.
What if a smart device could tell stories was incorporated into a plush, lovable teddy bear or other stuffed animal? Yes, companies plan on making stuffed animals with AI technology that can read stories to your son/daughter. Since AI-enabled, it will need the cloud to make queries and retrieve data. The concept is that the teddy bear or other stuffed animal will get to know your child’s name, likes, and dislikes, so it will always be able to share a story that will keep them interested. An intelligent, cuddly, plush friend that tells stories and one your kids will never want to put down.
Before you say kool, I want to get one for my child. Do you remember what happened in 2015 with Mattel’s Hello Barbie Doll? If not, let me refresh your memory, as it was a cybersecurity nightmare since bad actors could easily hijack the WIFI network it was attached to through the doll. Would you buy your kid a toy allowing hackers to tap into your home’s private network?
In 1980, Nintendo launched Teddy Ruxpin, a cute, plush, animatronic child’s toy that moved its mouth and eyes to tell the story on the audio cassette tape inserted into its back. Ken Forsse created the talking toy from Forsse Alchemy II, Inc employees, which had two primary employees involved; Larry Johson and John Davies. Future versions of the toy used a digital cartridge instead of an audio cassette. Teddy’s popularity grew in 1986. Several toy manufacturers made the teddy Ruxpin toy until it was later sold to Hasbro, and the most recent version was sold to Wicked Cool Toys.
Teddy Ruxpin was incredibly life-like, which impressed many and scared others. A new world is emerging with AI-powered toys, starting with intelligent stuffed animal friends. These new toys will quickly befriend your child, get to know their likes and dislikes, tell them stories and appear to be their best friend.
Thus, you know it is inevitable that these toys will be scheduled to hit the shelves before the holidays, and your son/daughter will want one. This is not a typical stuffed animal, erector set, or Lego kit. Let me repeat these new toys will get to know everything about your child, family, and home, which may entail information you wouldn’t want to share with everyone. We have learned in the past that whenever a device records a voice, it is often shared with third-party marketers and buyers.
You and your child’s personal information may easily fall into the hands of a bad actor. That information may be used to monitor, cyberstalk, and stalk in person. Even worse, that person may be planning to meet your child, rob your home, or illicit physical harm to your family. I don’t mean to scare you, but I want you to be concerned about this technology and how it can be used against you.
The Barbie Doll issue was severe; however, it only allowed hackers to get into your network potentially, but the AI Toys are far worse. Remember, AI itself, before even putting it into a child toy, already has a boatload of security risks, such as lack of transparency, bias & discrimination, privacy concerns, ethical issues, security risks, the concentration of power, dependence on AI, job displacement, economic inequality, legal and regulatory challenges, AI arms race, loss of human connection, misinformation, and manipulation. Not to mention unintended consequences that may result since AI programming decisions may not be in alignment with human values.
Putting AI Toys in children’s hands is especially dangerous because they may get confused into believing it is now their friend and think it is someone, not something they should not always trust. The holidays come, and you decide to buy your child the latest AI Teddy bear, which they quickly befriend as it reads and plays games with them whenever they want. Many parents will see this as a great inexpensive babysitter. The more your child interacts with this device, the more it learns about who they are and what they like and doesn’t like, which is great for selecting the correct stories. However, this is also bad because all the information it learns about your child is uploaded to the cloud, which may be shared with the manufacturer, buyers, marketing companies, and even bad actors. Bad Actors lurking may want to stalk, instill fear, or harm your child.
You are probably wondering what is the worst that can happen. It is only a toy; these actors may be millions of miles away. They could be or live on the same street you do and quickly use the toy’s data to set up a meeting with them or directly manipulate the toy to say what they want. Since your child doesn’t view this as a toy but as their best friend, they will trust whatever it says.
So, I would like to let anyone consider buying one of these new AI toys for their son or daughter this upcoming holiday season or their birthday. If you are still determined to buy one despite my warnings, please educate your son/daughter about the dangers of playing or interacting with this toy and not trusting it. Also, could you tell them not to share any personal information besides their first name, and if the toy ever asks you to meet with its friend, say no, stop using the top, and tell me immediately?
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